~ Looking forward, looking back & enjoying now.

Tag Archives: home

Two years ago our life changed. We packed “our UK life” into a five foot square storage unit, and travelled to Tasmania for an “adult gap year”. We’ve had a great time and for the foreseeable future, Hobart is now home.

When we packed up, we didn’t know where our next home would be, what size, what we’d need, so the packing up process was interesting. In reality, there are very few things that we have actually missed in the two years.

We are now back in London to catch up with family and friends and for the task of clearing the storage unit, reviewing our “stuff”.

Our journey began yesterday morning, as we left a sunny Hobart, where we navigated the small airport, from taxi, through check in and security, to the departure gate, in just 10 minutes. Hold that thought.

We had lunch in Sydney airport, before boarding a fourteen hour flight. The journey from the Domestic to the International terminal took more than 10 minutes. Once checked in again and through security, the walk to the gate was 10 minutes.

We arrived in Abu Dhabi just before midnight, local time. The aircraft parked out on the tarmac, a bus ride to the terminal building took 10 minutes, where this camel welcomed us. More than 10 minutes queueing back through security and round to the departure gate again for the next leg.

Finally to London Heathrow at 7am this morning, where everything took much much longer than 10 minutes. The walk from the gate, the queues at Border Control, the wait at baggage claim, the time until the next underground train into the city. After thirty hours travelling, we are here.

This week’s challenge is to consider the journey we’ve taken this year or where we hope to go in 2017.

I wonder how history will look back at 2016? Many of the global events and politics have been unsettling, so my heartfelt hopes are for a safe, healthy and happy new year.

May our paths lead to unexpected joys, to familiar places, to new adventures and back to the place we call home, to warm sandy beaches, to the wonders of nature’s wilderness and to our favourite city streets.

We have Masked Lapwing chicks on a small area of grass outside our windows. A public area than slopes down from the road and footpath, towards the river estuary.

I’ve been watching birds whilst doing the washing up, since we moved into this lovely rental apartment.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that a pair of masked lapwings were nesting. Just on the grass, out in the open. The parent birds would call and swoop on any intruders, people, kids, dogs, other birds. I’d hear them getting cranky with sparrows sitting on the fence or when someone inadvertently walked over the grass to look at the view. A neighbour said that they’ve nested here in previous years.

So I’ve been waiting for the chicks to hatch. And this morning, there they were. Three cute little chicks walking around.

A few years ago we had a nest of robins in our garden shed in the UK. Those chicks were scraggy featherless little mites for the first few days, relying on parents to bring them food. The lapwings are fluffy balls on long legs, born with a full covering of down who leave the nest and feed themselves within a few hours of hatching.

At the first sign of danger or a call from the parents, the chicks bob down and are completely camouflaged. Even when you know they are there, they are difficult to spot until they stand up again. They are so adorable.

Here is some information from the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife website.

The Masked Lapwing, also commonly known simply as “plover”, is a conspicuous bird with loud, penetrating calls. It is a bold animal that swoops at intruders – including humans. Its apt scientific name – Vanellus miles – comes from the Latin for soldier and refers to the spurs on the wings, which give an armed appearance.

Habitat
Masked Lapwings occupy a wide variety of natural and modified habitats, usually near water. In urban areas they frequently occur on roadside verges, playing fields, parks airstrips, golf courses and almost anywhere there is some greenery and water. Adult birds remain in the general area from year to year and chicks rarely move more than 10 km from the nest site.

Breeding
Breeding occurs in late winter to early spring. Birds pair for life and take up territories in May-July. Only 35% of nests are used in subsequent years. Between 3-4 eggs are laid. The incubation period is 28-30 days.

Young leave the nest almost immediately after hatching, and some young leave before all eggs have hatched. The young are guarded by both parents when small and may scatter over as much as 200 m if disturbed, with each adult guarding the chicks closest to it. The young follow parents but find their own food. Young usually fledge at 6-7 weeks but may vary from 5-8 weeks. Many families stay together after the young can fly. Birds can breed in their first year.

One subject that keeps appearing in my photos of recent months is mailboxes.

A new concept for me.

I’m used to the post being delivered into the house, through a letterbox in the front door.

Here, post is delivered to a mailbox at your front gate, if you live in the city.

As you drive out of town, single mailboxes are dotted along the road, at the end of a driveway. Sometimes you can see a house, sometimes not.

Further out into rural communities, a line of mailboxes stand at the junction of a side road. The mailman only covers the main road. In some places, mail is delivered to the local shop, not even to the end of your road.

Tassie mailboxes fascinate me. They are all different, unique, improvised or hand crafted. Most have a house number on them, one just stated the name and “plumber.”

Aussie Mate is very patient when I ask to abruptly stop the car so i can jump out and take photos. Fortunately we often have the road to ourselves and there are no cars following us.

There was a nice brand new build in North Hobart, large with a balcony, but views were of rooftops.

The next apartment was closer to the size that we had in mind, had views over the valley, had a small courtyard but was up a very steep drive and split level.

We then went bush, literally. We viewed a loft studio in amongst the trees. The estate agent commented that the burnt trees across the road resulted from a controlled burn by the government. This property was basically a tin garage, with tank water, and septic tank. One of my priorities before we even arrived in the country was mains water and mains sewerage. I don’t want rain water or a “poo man”. Natural bush fires would be a concern in this location.

We viewed two city apartments in Battery Point. The first was big, with a balcony overlooking a park, but it was bland. The second was more compact, with a tiny balcony but was dated and had white furniture. Not a good idea with our red wine and chocolate habits.

Then we saw a two bedroom apartment online, which had an “absolute waterfront”. The description and photos looked ideal but we had to wait two days to be able to view the property. It was a nervous couple of days.

The apartment was unfurnished but it was the perfect size, great location and had the most stunning views, so we decided to rent it anyway. We saw it on Thursday, signed the lease on Friday and moved in on Monday, with a hectic few days in between organising electricity, internet connection, a bed, some lounge furniture. The owner was happy to leave a dining table and chairs. It has a walk in wardrobe and bedroom unit with drawers, modern kitchen and bathroom.

We spent days out shopping, laying on beds, sitting in sofa’s and armchairs. We chose a bed that could be delivered on Monday but other furniture had to be ordered. The bed base could not be manoeuvred in our hall way, so as we are on the first floor, it was man handled up and over our balcony and moved into the apartment that way.

As with any move, we had a few hiccups. We bought a tv, to fit on the wall mounting. Aussie Mate has no tools or collection of “man stuff” here, nails, screws, washers, etc. So we made a trip to the DIY hardware store for screws and a screw driver. He has three tool boxes of man stuff in our storage unit in the UK, but that was no use to fix our new tv to the wall. He unpacked the tv and noticed that the screen was damaged. So next day, back to the shop, upgraded the tv, which then needed different screw size to fix to mount, so another trip to the DIY store.

We bought bedding, towels, toaster, kettle, crockery and cutlery. We got a starter pack of 4 setting crockery and mugs. We then decided that we did not require a fifty six piece box of cutlery. Why do we need eighteen knives and forks if we’ve only got four plates? We finally found a starter set of cutlery that we liked, so added that to our purchase pile.

It has been fun to set up a home again after so many years. To choose new colour schemes. As we overlook the water, we chose blues, greys and turquoise, a contrast to the colours of our previous home.

Another hiccup was the kettle. We chose the last one in the store, which had been on display for a few days. So yes, we were happy to take that. The assistant found the box and packed it. When we got it home we did not have the base, just the kettle jug. So another trip back into town.

We have blank walls with six picture hooks in the lounge, so that will be fun, agreeing on art work to hang up. We will get a couple of picture frames so I can print and hang some of my photos.

Now, we are chasing Telstra for our home phone and internet connection. There seems to have been a delay in processing our order.

Things I’ve learned …

~ To me, Manchester is a city in the north west of England. Here it is a term for household linens and “Manchester” is the name of such department within a big store or when shopping online.

~ Telstra Customer Services are based in Manila, Philippines. Phone and media companies are as frustrating here as they were in UK.

~ I don’t want to work in a DIY hardware store. How many different tools, sizes of screws does one person need?

Aussie Mate and I first met when house sharing, back in the day. When we married our first home was determined by the mortgage we could afford, transport links to our jobs, and family friendly area as we wanted kids in our future.

When we moved fifteen years later, our next house was determined by space for two teenagers, two bathrooms and separate utility room, garden, proximity to schools, shops, local transport and commuter links.

Now, it is just the two of us, looking for a rental property for six months. What are our criteria?

Do we want city living, high rise, an apartment with harbour views, or close to the water with beach views?

Hobart is hilly, so do we mind having a steep drive way, with views across a valley to opposite hillside?

Do we want to be north of the city on the river, or south of the city where river widens to estuary, or further south where it’s tidal and you can see open water of the Southern Ocean?

Do we want to “go bush” and live amongst the trees and forests away from the city in a small rural community?

Do we want apartment, unit, house, villa, town house? Do we mind whether it is brick built with tiled roof, wood cladding with a tin roof, or modern concrete apartment block?

In these final seven days we will wind up our UK life, sell our car, pack suitcases, pack up the house, put belongings into storage, give away furniture, washing machine, garden equipment. We will undoubtedly visit the local tip.

We have already notified the utilities, advised change of address everywhere. We have cancelled store cards and online accounts. How many loyalty cards does one couple need?

We will clean the house, take meter readings, hand over keys, juggle finances. Then relax.